Endocrine Abstracts

There is currently no set framework against which an adult endocrine nurse specialist can measure their practice. In December 2010, a working party was formed by the nurse committee of the Society for Endocrinology to draw up a competency framework for Adult Endocrine Nurses. The working party comprised of eight experienced endocrine specialist nurses with a mixture of adult and paediatric experience working in both NHS and private settings. The frame work was developed over a 2-year period.

Nine competencies were formulated, chosen because they are the most common group of conditions cared for in a nursing capacity by Endocrine specialist nurses. These were for acromegaly, Cushing’s syndrome, dynamic function testing, GH deficiency, hypogonadism, hypopituitarism, steroid replacement therapy, thyroid, and transitional care of the young adult.

These competencies are divided into three sections: competent, proficient, and expert with each of the levels encompassing the previous level. The working party discussed the skills, knowledge and aptitude required for each topic at each level and how to demonstrate the level of expertise reached and to set targets for future development. We recognised that endocrine nurses may have different levels of expertise for each competency and may not be working at the same level on all of these competencies at a given time. Whilst the document suggests a time scale for development of the nurse from novice to expert it is left to the individual departments to decide.

The framework can be adapted to suit service requirement and can be used for appraisals to set targets and objectives as well as monitoring progress.

This is a first part of an ongoing process where further competencies will be added as the document is used and evaluated.